Category: PRX in the News

Winners of the 2015 Third Coast Audio Festival/Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition — honoring the best new audio works — were announced today. Three of the nine winners are from Radiotopia, PRX’s podcast network. Congratulations to all!

Matter — the mission-driven media accelerator that PRX helped launch back in 2012 — has just announced that four major media companies have joined our community alongside original founding partners PRX, Knight Foundation, and KQED.

With our fourth class of startups underway (announcement on who is in the class will be out tomorrow) and these new partners, it’s clear that Matter has reached an important moment of impact in media.

Having helped first developed the concept of the “public media accelerator” that evolved into Matter under Corey’s leadership, it’s exciting to see Matter take shape at the center of a community bringing entrepreneurship, design thinking, and public media values into the tech startup movement.

PRESS RELEASE

McCLATCHY JOINS MEDIA ACCELERATOR MATTER

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 17, 2015 – The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) announced today that it has signed on as a media partner with Matter, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm and incubator that supports promising media startups and entrepreneurs.

“This is a very exciting partnership and opportunity for McClatchy,” said Pat Talamantes, McClatchy president and CEO. “In the midst of our company’s own digital transformation, Matter and the startups it nurtures will provide ideas, innovation and potential new business models for successful media companies of the future.”

In addition to McClatchy, The Associated Press, A.H. Belo Corporation and Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. will join founding media partners KQED Public Media for Northern California, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Public Radio Exchange in support of the Matter program.

The new partnership features a powerful mix of international, national and local media organizations with a vast reach across television, radio, digital and print. The network of media partners gives participating startups extensive mentorship by industry leaders, connections to potential customers and real-world opportunities to test their ideas.

Matter, founded in 2012, brings selected startups together at its San Francisco headquarters that “have potential to become meaningful media institutions of the future – creating a more informed, connected and empowered society.”

Matter invests seed capital and provides an intensive, five-month program for the budding entrepreneurs to refine their business plans, develop prototypes, work collaboratively with other entrepreneurs and learn from leaders in media and technology. The program culminates with “demo days” presentations in San Francisco and New York in front of a select group of investors, media executives, mentors and others.

Matter has a current portfolio of 19 early-stage media ventures.

About McClatchy

The McClatchy Company is a 21st century news and information leader, publisher of iconic brands such as the Miami Herald, The Kansas City Star, The Sacramento Bee, The Charlotte Observer, The (Raleigh) News and Observer, and the (Fort Worth) Star-Telegram. McClatchy operates media companies in 28 U.S. markets in 14 states, providing each of its communities with high-quality news and advertising services in a wide array of digital and print formats. McClatchy is headquartered in Sacramento, Calif., and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MNI.

We’re thrilled to announce that Fast Company has named PRX one of the Ten Most Innovative Companies in Media and Radiotopia one of the Ten Most Innovative Kickstarter Companies (press release).

This has been a big year for PRX with Radiotopia launching just a year ago this month with a hugely successful and record-breaking Kickstarter in between. We’re a small company with a lot of big ideas and we’re honored to accept these nominations alongside other media companies like The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Gimlet, and Medium.

Check out all of Fast Company’sMost Innovative and read our press release below.

Other companies honored along with PRX in the Media category include The Washington Post, The Guardian, Buzzfeed, Gimlet, and Medium. Radiotopia is honored in the Kickstarter category alongside Oculus VR, RRKidz, and others.

“Public radio is ripe for reinvention and we are thrilled that Fast Company has named PRX and Radiotopia as top innovators,” said Jake Shapiro, CEO of PRX. “Credit goes to our remarkable team, talented producers in our network, and listeners like you. Stay tuned for lots more to come.”

Most Innovative Companies is one of Fast Company’s most significant and highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year. The magazine’s editors spend months gathering and analyzing data on companies around the globe. The resulting package emphasizes the breadth of companies with progressive, nimble business models, an ethos of sustainability, and a culture of creativity.

Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies issue (March 2015) is now available online at www.fastcompany.com/MIC as well as in app form via iTunes, and on newsstands beginning February 17.

ABOUT PRX
PRX is an award-winning nonprofit public media company, harnessing innovative technology to bring compelling stories to millions of people. PRX.org operates public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering thousands of audio stories for broadcast and digital use, including This American Life, The Moth Radio Hour, Reveal, Snap Judgment and the Radiotopia podcast network. PRX Remix is PRX’s 24/7 channel featuring the best independent radio stories and new voices. PRX is also the leading mobile app developer for public media, with apps such as Public Radio Player, PRX Remix, and This American Life.

ABOUT FAST COMPANY
Fast Company is the world’s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethical economics, leadership, and design. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, one of the U.S.’s leading media companies.

It’s been a year since PRX launched Radiotopia, our collective of amazing, digital-first storytelling shows. Then, we were seven.

Now, we are eleven. We are thrilled to welcome the brand-new Mortified Podcast to Radiotopia (press release below). They join The Heart, Criminal, and The Allusionist as the newest members of our podcast family. These shows broaden our range of styles and stories while sharing the special qualities – describable and not – that make all of our shows Radiotopia shows.

The Mortified Podcast is a storytelling series where adults share the embarrassing things they created as kids — diaries, letters, lyrics & beyond — in front of total strangers. PS: It totally likes you. Hosted by David Nadelberg and Neil Katcher and produced by Gina Delvac and Pierce Purselley.

The Heart is a radio show about the triumphs and the terrors of intimacy, the bliss and banality of being in love and the wild diversity of the human heart. Produced by Kaitlin Prest and Mitra Kaboli.

Criminal is a new take on true crime, with stories of people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge and produced by Lauren Spohrer.

The Allusionist scratches the surface of why we say the things we say. English is a big messy mutt of a language, formed by military invasion after military invasion, plus countless tiny idiosyncratic decisions made by its users along the way. Hosted and produced by Helen Zaltzman.

Special thanks to our Kickstarter backers who gave us the love and funding to spread our wings in many ways, including this very important one.

LEAP INTO THE PODCASTING UNIVERSE AS LATEST SHOW FROM PRX’S RADIOTOPIA

The weekly Mortified Podcast debuts on February 9th

Cambridge, MA (February 9, 2015) – Mortified, the cultural phenomenon that has inspired thousands of adults to share awkward writings from their youth, will bring its unique blend of hilarious and heartbreaking stories to headphones everywhere when it debuts on February 9th as the latest series from Radiotopia, the acclaimed podcasting collective from PRX.

Ripped from the pages of real life, The Mortified Podcast features adults on stage sharing awkward and embarrassing artifacts of their youth in front of total strangers, from teenage diaries to pretentious college poetry to middle school love letters. Hosted by Mortified’s founder David Nadelberg and artist director Neil Katcher, each episode features one performance from the vast audio archives of the Mortified stage shows, which have been performed throughout the US for over the past thirteen years.

Last November, Radiotopia became the most funded radio/podcast project in Kickstarter history, raising over $620,000 from over 21,808 backers, far surpassing its original goal of $250,000. The Kickstarter enabled Radiotopia to launch The Mortified Podcast, and add three new shows: Criminal, The Heart, and The Allusionist. They join Radiotopia’s roster of envelope-pushing podcasts, including anchor program 99% Invisible, Radio Diaries, Theory of Everything, Strangers, Fugitive Waves, The Truth, and Love+Radio.

Radiotopia was launched in February 2014 by PRX, the award-winning public media company, and has quickly become the leader in today’s audio storytelling renaissance by helping the best and the brightest in the podcasting world grow their audiences and create the best work of their careers.

“Mortified has long been one of the bravest and funniest live shows in the storytelling field, with an utterly unique premise that celebrates the universality of humiliation,” said Jake Shapiro, CEO of PRX. “We’re thrilled to bring this addictive and infinitely relatable series to a mass audience through our Radiotopia network.”

“For years, Neil and I have wanted to do a Mortified podcast,” said Nadelberg. “We finally found the perfect home for that at Radiotopia, who not only understand the power of the medium, but who truly get storytelling. We are honored to have Mortified join their lineup of innovative audio series.”

Mortified began in the late 1990s, when Nadelberg unearthed an awkward love letter and began sharing it with friends. The project has since sifted through thousands of otherwise forgotten notebooks, photos, and envelopes. Participants have ranged from professional comics, actors, and singers to architects, ad execs, salesmen, and other amateurs, all in the noble pursuit of personal redemption through public humiliation.

The show has since been featured on This American Life, All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, and other public radio mainstays. In addition to its new podcast, Mortified has produced live events, books, a documentary (Mortified Nation), and an interview series for Sundance TV (The Mortified Sessions).

The Radiotopia network roster will expand as PRX enlists new producers and programs that push the boundaries of storytelling and adopt a wide digital distribution model. PRX has a track record of introducing innovative new programs such as The Moth Radio Hour, Snap Judgment and PRX Remix to millions of listeners across broadcast and digital, Shapiro said.

About PRX
PRX is an award-winning nonprofit public media company, harnessing innovative technology to bring compelling stories to millions of people. PRX.org operates public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering thousands of audio stories for broadcast and digital use, including This American Life, The Moth Radio Hour, Sound Opinions, Reveal, Snap Judgment, and the Radiotopia podcast network. PRX Remix is PRX’s 24/7 channel featuring the best independent radio stories and new voices. PRX is also the leading mobile app developer for public media, with apps such as Public Radio Player, This American Life, and PRX Remix. PRX was created through a collaboration of the Station Resource Group and Atlantic Public Media, and receives support from public radio stations and producers, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, and Knight Foundation.

The lead investigative story first featured in the pilot program of Reveal, a joint production of The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, has won a Peabody Award.

The story, reported by CIR’s Aaron Glantz, exposed opiate prescription abuse by the VA and the damage done to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. CIR’s extensive use of the Freedom of Information Act put hard data to the human impact and made possible a story for public radio, online and television.

“PRX is deeply honored to be part of this award with the talented journalists at CIR,” said PRX Managing Director John Barth. “We have listened carefully to stations and listeners and this Peabody is an affirmation that strong, investigative journalism will be at the core of Reveal.”

PRX and CIR are proud to be in the company of other award-winners announced today: This American Life, NPR, PBS and many others.

About RevealReveal is an investigative public radio program for the 21st century, accompanied by web, mobile and social platforms that create a powerful level of content and audience engagement. Reveal will leverage the social web beyond promotional sharing to reach new audiences off the public radio grid and pro-actively engage them in the search for common cause and solution to the myriad problems identified and addressed through Reveal‘s reporting. Reveal intends to become a weekly program and is now in the piloting phase with stations and collaboration partners.

Reveal is a joint production of The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX. PRX is the exclusive distributor of Reveal.

About PRX
PRX is an award-winning nonprofit public media company, harnessing innovative technology to bring compelling stories to millions of people. PRX.org operates public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering thousands of audio stories for broadcast and digital use, including The Moth Radio Hour, Sound Opinions, State of the Re:Union, Snap Judgment, and WTF with Marc Maron. PRX Remix is PRX’s 24/7 channel featuring the best independent radio stories and new voices. PRX is also the leading mobile app developer for public media, with apps such as Public Radio Player, Radiolab, This American Life, WBUR, KCRW Music Mine, and more.

PRX was created through a collaboration of the Station Resource Group and Atlantic Public Media and receives support from public radio stations and producers, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Knight Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Sloan Foundation.

About the Center for Investigative Reporting
Investigative reporting is an essential pillar of a democratic society. For more than three decades, The Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) has relentlessly pursued and revealed injustices that otherwise would remain hidden from the public. Today, we’re upholding this legacy and looking forward, working at the forefront of journalistic innovation to tell the stories that make a difference and reach diverse audiences of all ages, across the aisle and worldwide.

CIR stories appear in hundreds of news outlets, including NPR News, PBS FRONTLINE, PBS NewsHour, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, The Daily Beast and American Public Media’s Marketplace. CIR stories have received numerous journalism awards, including the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Baton, George Polk Award, Emmy Award, Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, and the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Its reports have sparked state and federal hearings and legislation, public-interest lawsuits and changes in corporate policies. For more information, visit cironline.org.

PRX is proud to be a founding partner of the Public Media Platform (PMP), a new set of tools to help distribute public radio and television’s digital content: audio, video, text, and photos.

We’ve spent the past two years in close partnership with APM, NPR, PBS, and PRI to develop a prototype, business plan, and systems inventory. Today, we are pleased to announce a major grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that will make the PMP a reality.

The Public Media Platform’s vision is directly connected to PRX’s own mission and role. We believe that the public radio and television content should be distributed more easily and efficiently in the digital space. When people find our content, they love it. Most of the top podcasts come from public media. Imagine being able to search across content providers on various topics, or include relevant public media content on your own website or blog.

PRX’s role in the PMP is threefold: we will help advise the development of the core platform that NPR is creating based on its own API; we will integrate PRX.org to create a seamless pathway for PRX producers and stations to opt-in to publish their content into the PMP; and we will help showcase the remarkable content collections made by possible by the PMP through mobile apps that we continue to build for stations and producers and PRX itself.

PUBLIC MEDIA’S NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS BREAK DOWN BARRIERS TO SHARE DIGITAL CONTENT

A New Public Media Platform Promises to Bring More Public Radio and Television Content to More People

Washington, DC; Dec. 17, 2012 – Public media’s leading national organizations will launch a ground-breaking collaboration to build a shared technology resource this coming year. The Public Media Platform (PMP) will allow public media producers and stations to gather their digital content in one place, and cost-effectively distribute it across digital platforms to achieve a critical mass of compelling non-commercial content.

Listeners, viewers, and website and mobile users will find it easier to find and interact with the news, entertainment, and cultural and educational content produced by the public media community once the PMP is in operation. Currently 37 million people listen to a mix of news, music and cultural programming every week on public radio stations. Public television educates, entertains, and informs nearly 123 million viewers every month. Millions more listen, view and learn from a multitude of public media websites, apps and mobile platforms.

Producers – from national networks like PBS, NPR, APM, PRI and PRX to public television and radio stations to independent producers – will have the opportunity to store and share text, digital video, audio and photos via the PMP. A new non-profit organization with officers drawn from the five founding organizations will oversee this new resource. The officers are David Kansas of APM/MPR, President; Kinsey Wilson of NPR, and Jason Seiken of PBS, Vice Presidents; Cory Zanin of PRI, Secretary; and Jake Shapiro of PRX, Treasurer. Four at-large members will be named soon.

Kristin Calhoun, currently Director of Station Products and Innovation at PBS, has been named Executive Director of the PMP, and she will begin work on January 7. She will oversee the creation of the PMP and manage its contracts, budget and finances, as well as station relations and marketing. Work on the technology infrastructure and creation of business rules will begin immediately.

Funding for the PMP comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). In 2010, CPB funded a pilot and planning process, and based on the success of that work, they will fund the creation the PMP and help underwrite its operating costs through May 2017. “The Public Media Platform will significantly enhance the way public media producers and stations use technology to innovate, collaborate and develop compelling programs for national and local audiences across all public media platforms – on air, online and in the community,” said Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB.

About the PMP Partners

American Public Media™, the parent organization for Minnesota Public Radio, Southern California Public Radio and Classical South Florida, is one of the largest producers and distributors of public radio programming in the world, with a portfolio reaching 17 million listeners on more than 800 radio stations nationwide each week.

NPR is public radio’s largest producer and an influential force in American life. In collaboration with more than 880 independent public radio stations nationwide, NPR strives to create a more informed public – one challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding and appreciation of events, ideas and cultures.

PBS, with its nearly 360 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and online content. Each month, PBS reaches nearly 123 million people through television and more than 21 million people online, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front row seats to world-class drama and performances.

PRI helps listeners “hear a different voice™” and to connect with one another and the larger world. It represents public radio’s largest portfolio of independent and station-based productions, produces programming including PRI’s The World®, and delivers this content on-air, on-line and through mobile devices.

PRX is an award-winning public media company, harnessing innovative technology to bring significant stories to millions of people. PRX operates public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering thousands of audio stories for broadcast and digital use, including signature programs like The Moth Radio Hour. PRX mobile apps include This American Life, KCRW Music Mine, Radiolab, and Public Radio Player.

We are super excited to announce the launch of Matter Ventures, the new name for the Public Media Accelerator. Not only does it have a new name, but also a new space in San Francisco, and a new investor and partner in KQED, who is joining PRX and Knight to launch the new company.

The New York Times covers the debut in the Monday December 3 2012 paper:

Can the nascent entrepreneurial ideas bouncing around Silicon Valley help reinvent public media?

Matter Ventures, a start-up accelerator that will provide four months of financial and logistical support for budding media entrepreneurs, will be unveiled Monday by its partners: KQED, a public television and radio station operator; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; and the Public Radio Exchange, known as PRX.

We are also sending out an official press release on behalf of Matter Ventures and the three founding partners – PRX, Knight, and KQED:

The intensive, four-month acceleration program is designed for media startups with multi-disciplinary teams who have early-stage prototypes, such as participatory platforms, mobile applications, B2B media services, and content production engines. Matter will invest in entrepreneurs who show high potential to create media ventures that make a meaningful, positive impact on society while pursuing a sustainable, scalable, profitable business model. Over the course of two years, the fund will run four class cycles, each consisting of five startups. Applications for the inaugural class, which will begin in late February 2013, will be accepted starting today through January 6th, 2013. An online application and guidelines can be found at www.matter.vc.

Applications are now open for teams interested in joining the first Matter class. We’ve got a great space on Bryant Street in San Francisco, right in the thick of things in Internet land.

We’ll be posting more information soon about information sessions and other ways to participate.

PRX’s tech team is in the news today for their discovery of an iPhone/iPad iOS 6 bug that is causing large overage charges for podcasters like This American Life and probably for their listeners with limited mobile data plans as well.

PRXers have dreamed of the day public radio producers’ audio would go viral. Yesterday it finally happened — listeners around the world have gone crazy for Two Little Girls Explain the Worst Haircut Ever from WNPR/Connecticut Public Radio reporter Jeff Cohen. Jeff interviews his two daughters about a sibling-haircut gone wrong. Take three minutes to listen. We’ll wait.

The piece is an audio equivalent of a cat video. It’s cute, short, funny — and people everywhere are listening (exposing independently produced public radio to many who probably don’t know what that is).

Each day we average 5,000 visitors to prx.org. Yesterday we had over 107,000.

Below is a screenshot of PRX pieces being listened to in real time (taken at 9:15 p.m. 6/28). Usually the left side has various pieces. Yesterday, it was all “Little Girls” and so many simultaneous listens it looks like a nuclear attack (click to see larger).

Find something that will connect with people. Listeners love this piece because the storytellers are good and it makes them think of their own family mishaps (just read the comments on any of the sites).

Short pieces matter on the web. Share your shorter pieces to get attention for your work, and to get stations interested in them and your longer ones for air.

Fill out your contact info on your profile. Make it easy for blogs/news aggregators to get in touch with you.

Congrats, Jeff! And congrats to your daughters for the interview which has connected to people all over:

“I’ve just come home from a very tiring day teaching Secondary School students (UK) … this has cheered me up immensely.. I really can’t stop laughing… Thank you.” –comment on PRX

We are super excited to announce that Corey Ford is joining us as Director of the Public Media Accelerator, starting in April 2012. Full press release below.

One of the Accelerator’s main goals is to be a magnet for new talent, particularly mission-driven entrepreneurs with the vision to “change media for good”. We’re off to an exceptional start with Corey.

Corey Ford, Director of Innovation
Endeavors’ Runway program
and former PBS FRONTLINE producer, tapped to lead initiative

Cambridge, MA (March 7, 2012) – Corey Ford, director
of Innovation Endeavors’ Runway program, the start-up incubator at
Eric Schmidt’s early stage venture capital firm, and former producer
for the Emmy Award-winning PBS series FRONTLINE, has been tapped as
the director of the new Public Media Accelerator, a $2.5 million
incubator launched by Public Radio Exchange (PRX) and the John S. and
James L. Knight Foundation to spur innovation in public media.

As director, Ford will oversee all aspects of the Public Media
Accelerator (www.publicmediax.org), which aims to do for public
broadcasting what accelerators like Code for America and RockHealth
are doing for government and health care, respectively. The Public
Media Accelerator seeks to “change media for good” by investing in
mission-driven entrepreneurs from media, technology, and design to
build ventures with the potential to reshape the future of public
media. Applications for the program will open in early summer 2012.
Candidates selected to participate will receive seed funding and join
an intensive mentorship-driven entrepreneurship program.

With his experience building a start-up incubator, producing
award-winning public media, and teaching multi-disciplinary
innovation, Ford is an ideal choice to lead the launch of the Public
Media Accelerator. He most recently served as the director of Runway,
an incubator for entrepreneurs at Innovation Endeavors, Google
chairman Eric Schmidt’s venture capital fund. Prior to that, he taught
design thinking innovation at the Institute of Design (“the d.school”)
at Stanford University. Ford began his career in public broadcasting
managing the production of 17 films from creative inception to
broadcast for the PBS/WGBH series FRONTLINE, earning an Emmy and a
duPont-Columbia Gold Baton Award. He earned his MBA at Stanford and
was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.

“Corey is an exceptionally talented leader and exactly the kind of
mission-driven entrepreneur the Public Media Accelerator is designed
to serve.” said Jake Shapiro, CEO of PRX. “He understands the
challenges facing public media and has first-hand experience in
helping entrepreneurs turn ideas into products and businesses. He
knows what it will take to inspire a new generation of innovators in
re-imagining public media for the 21st century.”

“I feel like my whole career has been built for this opportunity,”
said Ford. “I came to Silicon Valley from public broadcasting because
I believed deeply in its mission but was worried about its future and
wanted to figure out how to apply the lessons of entrepreneurship and
innovation to strengthen public media for the next generation. The
Public Media Accelerator is the opportunity to do just that. I am
excited to build an ecosystem that supports entrepreneurs who will
shape the future of public media by leveraging new technologies and
creating viable business models to deliver public media content that
is relevant for today’s audiences.”

About Public Radio Exchange
PRX is an award-winning public media company, harnessing innovative
technology to bring significant stories to millions of people. PRX
operates public radio’s largest distribution marketplace, offering
thousands of audio stories for broadcast and digital use, including
signature PRX programs like The Moth Radio Hour. PRX mobile apps for
public media include This American Life, KCRW Music Mine and Public
Radio Player. Learn more at PRX.org.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality
journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster
the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and
communities are informed and engaged. For more information, please
visit knightfoundation.org.